What 'SNL' can learn from live '30 Rock.'

Nina Metz

“Would be compelling if SNL could harness some of that madcap energy displayed on 30 Rock tonight.” That was the abbreviated tweet I sent out after watching “30 Rock’s” live episode last Thursday. Clearly I wasn’t the only one thinking about “Saturday Night Live,” which became obvious as I read the reviews the next day.

So I thought it warranted an experiment. “30 Rock” was still sitting there on my DVR. Why not watch it over the weekend back-to-back with “SNL” and try to figure out what the latter could learn from the former? In all, I think I watched “30 Rock” four times. It held up that well over repeated viewings. But I could barely get through a single viewing of “SNL”—but it was more than, “It’s just not funny.” Why are many of “SNL’s” sketches clunkers? I think Tina Fey’s efforts on “30 Rock” were instructive, if not at least a conversation starter.

No doubt the good readers of the Chicago Tribune will have their own opinions and I am eager to know what they are. “Saturday Night Live” still has such an emotional pull despite the grumbling it generates—it’s a pop cultural ritual; we love it, we hate it—and you can’t argue with the list of film and TV stars that have logged time on the show. But it’s in a rut. And I think Fey pointed out the many ways in which “SNL” might just pull itself out that hole.